What are you thinking?
by CrystalQueen187
Summary: So in season 4 episode 11 when Bruce was being so mean to Alfred, didn't you just want to go into the show and yell at him? Tell him to get his head screwed on straight? Well, that's exactly what I did! [On hiatus]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:I don't own Gotham or Batman. All I own is my OC.**

* * *

 **A/N If you read the summary, you know this takes place at just after season 4 episode 11. I just watched that episode and haven't seen anything beyond it. Although it's unlikely, it's possible something might be contradicted in the next episode or later ones, but hopefully not.**

* * *

One moment ago Bruce had been in the taxi. Now he was in his living room and not really sure how he got there.

 _There's no way I was THAT drunk_ thought Bruce.

"Eat this," said an old lady. Not really paying attention to what he was doing, Bruce ate it before thinking. If you're wondering what _it_ was, it was a weird golden apple.

Suddenly, Bruce didn't feel drunk at all anymore. Nor did he fell hungry, tired, or really uncomfortable at all. Then he remembered the old lady.

He jumped up. He was about to demand to know how she got into his house and what she gave him.

She must've seen the anger in his eyes. Then the old lady turned into an about 8 year old girl.

 _Okay maybe I am still drunk_ thought Bruce.

"You can't stay mad at a little girl can you?" asked the kid.

"Uh" said Bruce. Then the child turned into a 25ish woman. This woman had a tiara in her hair, odd. As well as a sparkling tank top under a black jacket. She also had a purplish streak in her hair.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Asked Bruce.

"I am the CrystalQueen. I got into your house using my powers. The same way I brought you here and gave you that golden apple," said the woman.

"Get out of my house right now" said Bruce raising his voice slightly.

"Relax I'm not going to hurt you. If I was, I could've done it by now" said the woman calling herself CrystalQueen.

"Do you want me to call the police?" threatened Bruce.

Bizarrely the CrystalQueen giggled.

"I'm sorry it's just... I know you're only 16 now, but by the time your an adult anything the police can do you could do 10 times better!"

"What? How could you know that? asked Bruce.

 _The Vigilante thing!_ realized Bruce. _But how would whoever this is know about that?_ _And why would she claim to know the future?_

"Because you're a fictional character". said the CrystalQueen.

A silence fell across from the room as that sunk in. Bruce Wayne was not real. He figured he must be accepting that so easily because he really was fictional.

"I take it you're not?" asked Bruce.

"Not really," said CrystalQueen. "See, I am the writer, and I put a personification of my pen name in the story so I could speak to you directly. Which is why I can take all these different forms," said CrystalQueen before turning into the old lady again.

"Can you please stop switching ages?" Bruce asked.

"Ok" said the CrystalQueen who then turned into a 16 year old girl wearing the same clothes as the adult. "I thought you'd like to speak to someone your own age".

"So you're the author that created me?" asked Bruce.

"No I am not. I am writing a fan fiction, which is basically a story someone writes about another story without paying for the rights or profiting on it" she said. "Which brings us to, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?" yelled CrystalQueen.

"Wha?" asked a startled Bruce.

"Why on earth are you being so mean to Alfred? Alfred has been so good to you, and will be the best person ever to you and your kids, and also always puts up with all the crap that comes when you bring home other superheroes!"

"What's a superhero?" asked Bruce.


	2. Chapter 2

"A superhero is the type of fictional character you are" said CrystalQueen calming down a bit. "Though I guess if it were possible for superheroes to exist in real life the term wouldn't only apply to fictional characters".

"I still don't understand what it means" said Bruce.

CrystalQueen sighed. "See Bruce, this isn't just any story and your not just any fictional character."

 _I don't think I like where this is going_ thought Bruce.

CrystalQueen handed Bruce a few comic books all part of the series **_Detective Comics._** "Sit down on the cushions on the floor" she instructed and Bruce did so.

She walked over to a whiteboard Bruce hadn't realized was there. She drew to large circles. "You originally came from a series of comic books" she said. She pointed at the 2 circles. "Sure there are other comic companies, like Dark Horse for example. But the main 2, especially for superheroes, are DC and Marvel".

 _This could possibly get very complicated very quickly_ thought Bruce.

Bruce nodded in understanding and CrystalQueen continued "We're not going to talk to much about Marvel at the moment because you Bruce, are one of the oldest and most important DC characters".

"Ok" Bruce said quietly as he nodded.

"You were created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939 and have existed for roughly 75 years. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I heard the statistic that, there have been more stories told about you than any other fictional character ever!"

 _What do I possibly do that makes me that popular?_ wondered Bruce. The vigilante experience popped into his head, but that alone wouldn't make him last 75 years.

"It would make sense though, you are one of the oldest comic book characters and probably the most popular. Since so many comic titles used to come out every single week, there was a time period where as long as you were in at least 2 titles, and you were, you would appear in over a hundred comic stories a year. And that went on for decades! Not even bothering to count the adaptations. It really wouldn't be much of a surprise if that is true, especially if you count fan fiction and other crap that's not officially licenced" said the CrystalQueen.

"None of this answers my question!" said Bruce growing slightly aggravated. "You kidnap me, break into my home, tell me I'm not real and shout at me, half of which I have no idea what you're talking about! You talk about kids that I definitely do not have, and tell me about something that I ask for clarification on and you go on a rant about how many stories I have been in!" snapped Bruce.

"Don't forget, I'm the writer. I let you get confused and angry because I want you to have realistic reactions. Remember, the main reason I came here was because you were being such a jerk to Alfred. Given the power I have over you right now, it would be wise if you were a bit nicer to me" said CrystalQueen.


	3. Chapter 3

"I am getting to that though. Over the 75 years stories about you have been published, you've picked up quite a few supporting characters". said CrystalQueen. "Alfred Pennyworth is one of those supporting characters, as is James Gordon. They're both good guys".

"Good guys?" asked Bruce.

"Well, there's the heroes, and then there's the villains" said CrystalQueen with a faint smirk appearing on her face for some reason.

"Oh," said Bruce simply.

"I'm sure you know of The Penguin and the Riddler, or Oswald Cobblepot and Ed Nygma. There's also Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy-"

"Who?" asked Bruce.

"Ivy Pepper" said the CrystalQueen. "Most comic characters have a nickname sorta. Ed Nygma's is the Riddler, Oswald Cobblepot's is the Penguin. Their real name is their civilian name, or human name. If the character keeps their true identity a secret, and most do, especially the heroes, we call their real name their secret identity" explained the CrystalQueen."You have a nickname too. Obviously, your secret identity is Bruce Wayne".

 _When I was a vigilante I kept the fact that I was doing it a secret from most people_ thought Bruce. _So I guess Bruce Wayne was my secret identity, I never thought of a nickname to call myself though_ he thought.

"I'm not going to tell you your nickname or very many other people's right now, because that would ruin the surprise" said CrystalQueen.

Bruce considered asking her about the surprise but thought better of it.

"Now if I may turn your attention back to this whiteboard, I'll explain how you fit in with the rest of DC. I'll just use everyone's secret identities for the time being. You and all the supporting characters that play roles in your stories like Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle, Dick Grayson, as well as locations and stuff like Gotham City, The League of Assassins, and Arkham Asylum make up the Bruce Wayne mythos". said CrystalQueen.

Bruce thought that sounded incredibly stupid, until he remembered she was using his real name in place of some nickname. He hoped that with his nickname it sounded much less ridiculous.

"Your mythos, is one part of the DC universe. You're constantly crossing over with other DC characters, or should I say, other **superheroes** " said CrystalQueen.

She wrote 3 names inside of the DC circle on the board. _Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne,_ and _Diana Prince_.

"These are your secret identities, not your nicknames, but these are the first 3 DC superheroes and actually I think the first 3 superheroes ever. They call you three the Trinity, and you team up very often" said CrystalQueen.

Bruce racked his brain for anywhere he could've heard those names before but came up with nothing. She drew a circle around his name. Inside the circle she wrote _Robin, Joker, Alfred._ Bruce did not bother to tell her he only recognized that last name.

"So you have your mythos that you bring to the universe, they have theirs". Under Clark Kent's name she wrote _Lois Lane, Krypton, The Daily Planet_ and under Diana Prince she wrote _Themyscira, The rope of Truth, the Amazon's._ "The Trinity are the most important in DC, but there are other superheroes in your universe". She wrote names on the board like _Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Arthur Curry._

"Ok," said Bruce.

"Sometimes comic company's have huge superhero team ups. Each company has its main team. Marvel has the Avengers, you are a member of the Justice League".

"Cool" was all Bruce managed to say. Though really he was thinking, he was pretty sure he'd never been in any Justice League.

"Selina Kyle is actually one of the few neutral character's in comics. She's one of your many love interests" said CrystalQueen.

"One of my love interests?" asked Bruce.

"Since your such a popular character, you've been paired with just about every female character in your general age group and...even a few that aren't in that group" said CrystalQueen looking slightly disgusted. That made Bruce uncomfortable enough to drop the topic..

"I know that wasn't really relevant, but somebody left a review on the last asking me to bring her up so I kinda had to shoehorn it in.

"What?" asked Bruce.

"Oh I forgot to tell you. I'm the writer. Well, writers write for readers. As I write each chapter of this I post it on the internet, which is something that exists in the future, for others to read. People can leave comments or reviews about their thoughs on the story. I'm not writting this all in one sitting, even though it's just the two of us having a conversation, this is chapter 3 already" said CrystalQueen.

"Oh," said Bruce.

"Speaking of which I'm ready to take a break from writting this now. It'll probably be a couple days in real life, about a half a second within the story" said CrystalQueen.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N If you see something in parentheses in bold, it's not part of the story.**

* * *

"Half a second is up" said Bruce.

"Yes that was...I don't know almost a week? This chapter probably won't even be posted today" said CrystalQueen. **(It wasn't)** She pointed at the comics that Bruce had now thrown next to him.

"So, you heard me mention it a couple times, but eventually these comics got made into movies, tv shows, novels, you name It! You, are a version from an adaptation" said CrystalQueen.

"Ok. I guess that explains the stuff that hasn't happened to me. At least not yet anyway" said Bruce.

"Yes. Though I guess another reason for that is this show is actually a prequel" said CrystalQueen.

"What?" asked Bruce. "How could this be a prequel?" he asked.

"What year is it?" asked CrystalQueen.

 _The year?_ wondered Bruce. _It's...it's...uh..._

 _"_ I don't know," admitted Bruce. "I guess I just never really thought it was that important. But how could I not know? Knowing what year It is is important!" said Bruce as the realization that he didn't know something so simple sunk it and he became more and more unnerved.

The CrystalQueen pointed at the whiteboard. "This is a TV show on Fox, ok technically it's fan fiction about a TV show on Fox but just pretend like we're actually in the show. The premise is, everyone knows...your nickname, this is the story of Bruce Wayne before he was nickname, Selina Kyle before she was nickname, Oswald Cobblepot before he was the Penguin, Ed Nygma before he was the Riddler, James Gordon before he was Commissioner Gordon ect.".

"Guess that makes sense," said Bruce still a bit unnerved by not knowing the current year.

"Since it takes place before what everyone kinda knows as the general story, it's set in the past. But since your such an old character it's not a specific point in the past. Just, intentionally unspecified year".

"Oh" replied Bruce.

"If I had to guess, I'd look only at the stuff that impacts the plot. What impacts the plot? Social Norms, and plot relevant technology. Starting with the latter, you guys have cell phones but not smartphones. If there is the internet, it's not in wide use yet. Otherwise you'd be looking on it whenever somebody needs to investigate something. The civil rights movement definitely happened as did first and second wave feminism, I can tell because of how the black and female characters are treated totally fairly. Everyone on this thinks the gay and bisexual characters are totally fine. So if I had to guess, I'd say late 90s or early 2000s. But you're really not supposed to know" said CrystalQueen.

"Um, good" replied Bruce.

"Most of that was copy and pasted from the authors note of another story I have, called A Visit to Tommarow" admitted CrystalQueen.

"Oh yeah, because people are reading this instead of seeing and hearing it like I am-!" said Bruce after a moment of confusion.

"Well, I'm writting a different story where 4 of the characters on this show get sent to the future somehow and witness a lot of the um, Bruce Wayne mythos" said CrystalQueen pointing to small circle around his name "as well as some more of D.C in general". She circled all of the D.C comics loop with her hand.

"Wait a minute," said Bruce. "You're writting this story for people to read?" CrystalQueen nodded. "You want people to read your stories?" she nodded again. "And you told me what it's called and what it's about?"

"Mm-hmm" said the CrystalQueen starting to smile.

"You put that in here because you want people reading this story to go read your other one, didn't you?" asked Bruce.

"And you figured it out!" said the CrystalQueen sounding very excited.

"Huh?" asked Bruce.

"You figured it out! I wanted to explain why telling you how I made an educated guess on when this takes place might've sounded a little robotic, so I admitted it was copy and pasted from the authors note of another story with a few tweaks made to it. But yes, then I thought, I'll put in the title and a loose summary so maybe some people will go check it out" said CrystalQueen.

"Why are you so happy about me drawing attention to the fact that you did that?" asked Bruce. Then he remembered something. "Oh wait. You wrote the story. You made me do exactly what you wanted".

"Keep acting like an actual person, please. That's what makes good characters. But anyway to answer your question, I don't really care that anyone knows I self promoted. It's not like it's a crime to self promote, and I'm being pretty self aware aren't I? I'm glad Bruce, that you can figure it out so easily. Or at least I would be if I didn't write you doing it" said CrystalQueen.

"Why are you so glad I realized what you were doing?" asked Bruce.

"I'll explain in a moment. There are a couple things I need to tell you before I do that though. First, I want to play a little game with you". said the CrystalQueen.

"Oh no" moaned Bruce.

"Just some trivia questions" said CrystalQueen. "Who is the current president of the United States?" she asked.

"I'm not sure" said Bruce.

 _Another thing I don't know that any 7 year old should be able to tell you._

"What was Washington's first name?" asked CrystalQueen.

"George" said Bruce.

"Teddy and Franklin, what were their last names?"

"Roosevelt"

"Barrack Obama, who was the first lady?"

"Michelle Obama"

"Who was the 3rd president?"

"Uh, John Adams, I think".

"Who was the first President who never held a political office or rank in the military?"

"Donald Trump"

"Finish the name, John F."

"Kennedy"

"What party was Abraham Lincoln?"

"Republican"

"Who was president during 9/11"

"I think one of the Bushes"

"So I bet your wondering how you know all that, but can't tell me who the current president is?" asked CrystalQueen.

Bruce nodded.

"Obviously you can't tell me who the current president is for the same reason you don't know what year It is, it's supposed to be ambiguous. Plus it gives the writers the ability to come up with a fictional one should they ever decide to put one on the show" she explained.

"Well, yeah I kind of figured..." said Bruce.

"But, you ARE fictional. So the audience is supposed to assume that you know everything an average American 16 year old should know, especially one as well educated as you".

* * *

The CrystalQueen looked very frustrated. "Ok so I was writting this, then I accidentally closed the tab and lost everything I wrote since my last save. So we're going to have to run through all that again".

Bruce was unsure how to respond to that.

"Lucky for you, you won't remember it and it will be like the first time for you" said the CrystalQueen.

Bruce relaxed a little.

"I think I'll post this chapter now and take a little break from writting" said CrystalQueen.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N sorry this chapter took so long. I was trying to do something that just didn't work so I gave up and scrapped it. You get this instead, which was actually my original plan.**

* * *

"Okay so where the heck was I?" asked CrystalQueen.

"You closed a tab" said Bruce.

"Yeah right. So anyway, everyone assumes you know everything you'd expect someone your age to know, give or take anything special that they tell the viewer or that's plot relevant" said CrystalQueen.

"So I can tell you all that basic information because they never gave any reason why I can't, but I can't tell what it is specifically now?" asked Bruce.

"Yes, exactly" said CrystalQueen. "Oh! By the way, you're the main character of the mythos, but not the show".

"What?" asked Bruce a little confused.

"In your comics and most everything else you're the main character and Commissioner James Gordon is a pretty important side character. On this TV show which is a prequel to everything, Detective, or now Captain, Jim Gordon is the main character. You're a side character, though you are a pretty important one".

"Well...at least I'm not at the center of the universe for everything" said Bruce after a moment of trying to think what to say.

"Yeah a lot of people who haven't seen the show assume you're the lead, but Jim is actually the main on Gotham". said CrystalQueen.

"On Gotham"?

"Yeah that's the title of the show"

"That's a strange title"

"Not really. Gotham City is like, the famous City of your mythos. The show is the origin of everyone from Gotham before the era that everyone knows" explained CrystalQueen.

"What's so important about Gotham City?" Bruce asked.

"It's the setting where everything happens" said CrystalQueen. Then it appeared some realization dawned on her. "Gotham is a fictional city, Bruce".

"What? How? I lived my whole life here, it seems so real..."

"Where is Gotham City?" asked CrystalQueen. And Bruce was in the same situation once again. But then he thought of something.

"What exactly do you want?" countered Bruce. "Where is it could mean a ton of different things. If you're looking for coordinates, well I'm sure you couldn't expect the average American 16 year old to know the exact location".

"Smart. Okay, what state do you live in? Can you tell me that?" asked CrystalQueen.

"No" admitted Bruce.

"Okay. Figure it out" said CrystalQueen.

"What?"

"I told you how I guessed when this takes place. You guess where it takes place"

"Uh, okay"

"I'll give you one hint"

"Which is?"

"One time some character got knocked out on a train, and when she got back she said she woke up in Virginia. So whatever state it is, it's not Virginia".

"Okay, thanks big help!" he said sarcastically.

"You **can** figure it out Bruce" said CrystalQueen adamantly.

Bruce took a deep breath. "I know it's definitely in America. I guess I'll start by ruling out the least likely states?" The CrystalQueen gave a small nod. "Okay. It's not impossible that we're in Alaska or Hawaii but it's highly unlikely. It can get pretty cold here so probably not a southern state. Actually, we have no palm trees or anything like that so it unlikely California, Florida, Alabama...". CrystalQueen slowly nodded with everything he said.

"Given our vegetation and weather we're probably in the north east part of the country". Bruce decided. "But not too far north. If it were like, Maine we'd be covered in Snow in fall and spring but we're not". Bruce thought for a few moments. What else was there?

"There's a river, though that doesn't tell very much. There's also, I think a small lake. Um, we might be on the ocean. There might be a mountain range near by but we're not up in them".

"Okay so where do you think it might be?" asked CrystalQueen.

"Uh, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Conneticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, maybe?" said Bruce.

"Ok, you're not sure which exactly but you narrowed it down to, like, 6 out of 50. So if you need it you just have to choose one of those" said CrystalQueen.

"All I need is to narrow it down?" asked Bruce.

"That's the beauty of a fictional city Bruce. Gotham always reminded me of Boston so if I need the state for a story I usually use Massachusetts" said CrystalQueen.

Bruce still wasn't entirely sure why she was so happy he could figure out things. She had come visit him because he wasn't acting like himself. Was that a sign he was acting more like the character he was supposed to be? On Gotham or in everything else? Or both? He was really sure who he was supposed to end up in the future.

"So Bruce, if you're wondering why I wanted you to make an educated guess, I mean, that wasn't really that difficult, but I wanted you to show off that big brain of yours"

"So I'm supposed to be really smart?" asked Bruce.

"Well yeah". Then the CrystalQueen sounded like she was reciting something. "Nickame. Secret Identity: Bruce Wayne. Powers and Abilities: Trained in over 100 forms of martial arts, fluent in, okay I forgot the number but a lot of different languages, genius level intellect. Billionaire. Access to advance tech and science. Education in Criminology, Bio Chemistry, Technology, Computer Programming, Forensics, ect. Weakness: That of a normal human."

"Whoa! I don't know all that!" said Bruce.

"You will one day" said CrystalQueen.

"There's no way any human could possibly learn all that. I'm sorry I always tend to think nothing is impossible, but it's true!"

"It's true, no real human could accomplish all that. But you are not real". CrystalQueen reminded him. "Take another look at those comic books. I left out one of your most important abilities". Bruce looked. _Detective Comics._ It was a mix of different stories. Mystery stories. He couldn't tell which one was supposed to be about him.

 _Wait a minute. I can't read any of these stories!_ Bruce realized. His brain just couldn't process what was on the page.

"So that, Detective Comics #4, is the comic you first appeared in, over 75 years ago. You can't read it becausethis story is from your point of view so I have to describe everything you see to the readers. While I know that the comic was multiple stories and you first appeared in it, I have no idea what happens in that book".

 _Why do I get the feeling she wants another paragraph? She's just standing there. What's she putting in between to give her an excuse to pause? Probably something useless_ Bruce decided.

"So, obviously I can't describe to the readers what happens. That is why you can't see it. But, I'm sure it says this somewhere in there, so look right there" said CrystalQueen as she pointed to a spot on one of the pages.

"All it says is _the world's greatest detective_ said Bruce. "Oh".


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm the world's greatest detective?" asked Bruce stunned.

"One day you will be" said CrystalQueen. "Originally your comics were noir mystery stories, except...for children...and with absolutely ridiculous villains".

Bruce found himself thinking of Riddler and Scarecrow when she said ridiculous villains, but he had a feeling there were probably weirder, after 75 years. He asked a different question. "Are my stories aimed at children?". Personally, Bruce thought an awful lot of stuff happened to him that would be important to include, that children shouldn't be reading.

"It depends on the version" said CrystalQueen. "Some are quite clearly meant for young boys, others are definitely for adults. But anyway, originally your books were detective stories. You're the slueth and Robin is the second, you two solve the mystery and save the day".

"Who's Robin?" asked Bruce.

"You're Sherlock Holmes. He's Dr. Watson" said CrystalQueen.

That wasn't much help. She literally just said he was the second but whatever. Bruce tried not to figure out who Robin could be. Technically Robin was a neutral name, but CrystalQueen had specifically said _He._ Bruce didn't know anyone named Robin. He figured he must meet his Dr. Watson somewhere down the line.

"I wanted to bring that up because I feel like with everything that's been added over the decades they kinda stoped doing the noir mysteries as much. Not every one of your stories has to be that style, but I'd like some" said CrystalQueen.

Bruce imagined himself as a Sherlock Holmes type walking around Gotham trying to solve a bizarre mystery and stopping villains like Penguin or Riddler. His Dr. Watson, if he had a sidekick it would most likely be someone he was trying to mentor, he decided.

But when he was a vigilante he'd felt more like himself than he ever had. He imagined winning a physical fight with the worst of Gotham. Bringing the crooks in for the justice they deserve. He'd be dressed in black and scare the living Hell out of criminals. He also secretly thought a cape that flowed behind him would be really cool.

But if that was where his life was headed, he ruined all that when he killed Ra's and then started the drinking and partying, hadn't he?

"Okay so, I've been acting like a school teacher for way too long and I can't delay this any longer" said CrystalQueen.

"Delay what?" asked Bruce.

* * *

"Follow me" said CrystalQueen who then walked out the door. Bruce followed her. But the door the didn't lead where it should've. It put him out in a large expensive house sure, but not his large expensive house.

"Where are we?" asked Bruce.

"I am a queen aren't I?" asked CrystalQueen. "This is my palace".

Bruce looked around. The room was mostly empty save a few decorations, and very grand. Logical expectation for some fanfiction writer's fantasy castle Bruce figured.

"Come on these wooden doors lead to the stage" said CrystalQueen as she pulled Bruce through.

They walked onto a wooden stage in what looked like a movie theater/stage play auditorium, though Bruce couldn't really see much because there wasn't a lot of light.

"There is an Imax sized movie theater screen infront of the stage right now so that's why you can't see the audience" said CrystalQueen. Then she gestured for Bruce to follow her through a little door to the left.

"What audience?" asked Bruce. However imediently after he said that they walked into a large room with reclining movie theater seats facing the screen. In the seats were, wait, Jim Gordon, Selina Kyle, Oswald Cobblepot, Sofia Falcone, Tabitha Galavant, basically the entire main cast of the show Bruce guessed.

 _What?_ Thought Bruce.

"There they are" said Harvey pointing at Bruce and CrystalQueen. Then some woman with dark skin and curly black hair ran up to them.

"You're majesty I didn't see you come in" said the woman she curtsied.

"Thanks Rebecka, but I don't need a grand entrance. I'm ready to start, where is Jason...oh" said CrystalQueen.

"What?" asked Bruce.

"Rebecka and Jason are my right and left hand men. But I just remembered in the comics one of your kids is named Jason Todd so that might get a little confusing" said CrystalQueen.

Bruce then remembered what she'd said about Alfred being great to him and his kids. So, in some versions he had a son named Jason Todd. Why wouldn't his son's last name be Wayne? Perhaps he was adopted.

"I don't think it'll be a problem" yelled Barbara Keane from the back row of the audience. Bruce then remembered everyone else was there, for some reason...

"You want to talk about a confusing name?" asked CrystalQueen. "You're technically from the comics but you don't really do anything. Completely different than your role on this show" said CrystalQueen.

"And why is my name confusing" asked Barbara with a bit of sass.

"Because in most versions Jim Gordon has a daughter named Barbara Gordon. So on the internet when people talk about the show and mention "Barbara" it can get a little confusing" said CrystalQueen.

"Okay, interesting" said Jim.

"There's some potential explanations on the internet for why in this universe Jim's daughter would be named Barbara with him knowing Barbara Keane and the one that I think makes the most sense is, he adopted a toddler already named Barbara" said CrystalQueen. Then she turned to Bruce. "Come on let's go sit down" she said as she dragged Bruce into two open seats in the front row.

"Hang on!" said Bruce. "How did all the other characters get here?"

"Those people, Rebecka and Jason showed up and dragged us into these seats and made us watch what happened at the bloody manor!" said Alfred.

"Wait, everyone was watching that entire exchange?" asked Bruce.

"You knew the reader's were reading it, how are the character's on the show any different?" asked CrystalQueen.

"Here's a better question" said Bruce "Why isn't everyone in the audience trying to kill each other?"

 _I can't believe I just said that_ thought Bruce.

It is true that that sentence would make zero sense out of context. But the CrystalQueen calmly explained.

"This room has similar magic to what I gave you in that golden apple. It's designed for showing characters their movies so nobody needs to eat, sleep, stretch around, go to the bathroom, or get up for any reason. But also you guys can't be disruptive. You can talk a little, sure. But for example in a story I have where I make the characters from the Star Wars prequels watch the entire series, when I get to Darth Vader's "No, I am your father" everyone would probably start shouting. But then they wouldn't be able to hear what comes next, so I'll prevent them from speaking the same way I prevent them from trying to leave or attacking each other".

That started to make sense. "So everyone has just been sitting here patiently while watching us go through everything you explained to me?" asked Bruce.

"Ed spilled chocolate milk all over me" said Penguin. "That's probably the most eventful thing that happened".

"Anyway let's sit down and start the movie" said CrystalQueen. She sat down in a seat in the front row with Harvey Bullock to her right. To his right was Alfred. Bruce was thankful for the three people in between him and Alfred because he thought it would be pretty awkward if they were closer together. Bruce sat down in between CrystalQueen and Selina. To Selina's right was Jim Gordon.

Behind them in the second row Penguin and Riddler sat next to each other. Bruce turned around and said "So some day I'm going to have to defeat you as villians".

"I hope you'll be a worthy apha-ary. I mean adversary!" said Penguin.

"Haha! You were trying to sound cool, and then you stumbled on your words" said Riddler giggling.

"Okay everyone" said CrystalQueen enthusiastically. "I'm about to start the first movie. Don't be to harsh on the special effects. It came out in 1989".


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N from now on the story will be 3rd person omniscient. In bold will be what's happening in the movie or show, the regular will be what the characters watching are doing and thinking. I will be skipping ahead to the parts I want to show. For example, I'm going to start with the two guys in Batman 1989 talking about "the Bat". Obviously, spoilers.**

* * *

 **"Let's beat it man, I don't like being up here" said one of them men with a hint of unease.**

 **"What are you afraid of heights?" asked his friend annoyed.**

 **"I don't know. After what happened to Johnny Gobs..."**

 **"Look Johnny Gobs got ripped and took a walk of a roof, okay? No big loss".**

 **"No man. That ain't what I heard at all. I heard that the Bat got him"**

 _The Bat?_ Thought Bruce. He didn't like bats.

 **"The Bat? Gimme a break will you?" asked the man rolling his eyes.**

 **"He fell five stories, there wasn't no blood in the body".**

 **"No shit. It was all over the pavement" .**

"By the way, sorry Bruce, but you'll be seeing a lot of bats" said CrystalQueen.

"Huh?" asked Bruce.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jim.

"Well when Bruce was a kid he used to be scarred of bats. They never really said anything about it on the show, so I assumed they still creep him out a little. So I thought I'd apologize" explained CrystalQueen after pausing the movie.

Alfred could confirmed that story. He thought back to Bruce's younger days with nostalgia. The poor kid had lived in a manor on top of a bunch of caves infested with them. He then wondered why there would be so many bats in the movie. Perhaps the villain of the original movie was a vampire or a bat monster of some sort?

"I can manage!" said Bruce angrily. "Did you have to tell everyone in the room and the readers that?" He asked, his face slightly red.

"It's a common enough fact that I'm sure almost 95% of the readers already knew that and all the other characters would've eventually found out through watching everything" said CrystalQueen. Bruce turned back to the screen. "Sorry" she said as she unpaused the movie. She hadn't meant to upset him. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Bruce had found it embarrassing. He was still a teenager after all.

 **"I'm getting out of here man" said the first man as he grabbed something.**

Bruce noticed a giant bat land silently on something behind the men. Well, _giant bat_ was clearly a guy in a suit, but 1980s special effects, he figured. He wasn't sure if anyone else saw it, but it was there first viewing so it would be fair if they didn't catch it.

 **"Listen here" said the second man. "There ain't no bat" he insisted.**

 **The first man thought for a moment. "We shouldn't have turned the gun on that kid" he said finally.**

 _Oh you shouldn't have_ thought Bruce.

 **"You want your cut of this money or not?" asked the second man. "Now shut up. Shut up!"**

 **Then the two men heard something. They looked up to see the bat creature spread it's wings. Then ran as the bat jumped down toward them.**

"Well, I've seen everything now!" said Harvey.

 _It's not the special effects_ Bruce realized. _That's supposed to look like a guy in a suit. Or at the very least like it's part man!_

 **The men fired three shots at the bat. He fell down. It looked like they'd got him, but he rose again. The bat lowered his wings and kicked one of the men through a door while the other ran away.**

CrystalQueen smiled at the part cheering, part scared, and part totally silent audience.

Bruce, while not visually reacting much, was rooting for the bat-human-thing and cheered when the dude got kicked through the door. Those two criminals definitely deserved it. It didn't even look like they were in danger of dying. Maybe, this bat-man-thing or whatever it was wasn't the bad guy?

 **The bat shot a bat shaped grappling hook at the other man.**

 _I used a grappling hook when I was a vigilante_ thought Bruce. _Could it...Is that, is that me?_ wondered Bruce. _No, no, it couldn't be. Could it?_

Jim was unsure wether he was supposed to be rooting for or against the bat. He was beating up very bad people and not even seriously injuring them. But he wasn't a cop, he didn't even look like a human. Why was whatever it was going out and scaring people?

Penguin had no idea what to think and he didn't care. He just sat there and enjoyed it like it was any other movie. A movie that he had no idea what it was.

 **That bat dragged the man to the edge of the rooftop. In fear of being thrown off he pleaded "Don't kill me, don't kill me man. Please don't kill me"**

Bruce, even though he hated that guy, didn't think he deserved to die. Then he remembered Ra's Al Guhl, and the vow he'd broken, and wondered if it was hypocritical to say the bat shouldn't kill that guy.

 **"I'm not going to kill you. I want you to do me a favor" said the bat.**

Chills went through the audience.

"Oooh" said Selina. She smirked. Now this was getting good. She'd probably like this movie.

Bruce noticed how human the voice of the bat-thing sounded.

The Riddler honestly wasn't sure Why he was shaking so much.

The CrystalQueen grabbed Bruce's wrist and squeezed it. She was sure excited about something.

 **"I want you to tell all your friends about me" said the bat.**

 **"What are you?" asked the scared man.**

 **The pulled them closer together so that they were face to face. "I'm Batman"**

Bruce couldn't move. Then, a smile grew on his face somehow.

"Bat-man...what?" whispered Alfred to himself.

Nearly everyone else in the audience was equally confused. Bat-man was a very strange term to them.

CrystalQueen leaned toward Bruce. She thought about rephrasing his catchphrase, but decided it wouldn't work. Instead she just whispered "What did I tell you? You're not just any fictional character. You're Batman".

Bruce's eyes lit up like Christmas lights.


	8. Chapter 8

The CrystalQueen was not the best at quietly whispering.

Selina heard exactly what she said. Bruce was the Batman? Despite her temporary shock it really wasn't that hard for her to believe. She knew Bruce well enough to know that him growing up to be a vigilante who terrified but didn't kill street criminals wasn't all that surprising.

The bat thing though was a little stranger. Vigilante sure, but where did Bruce get "Bat-man" from? Would he be bit by a vampire at some point? Was it possible he already had been? Maybe not vampire per say, but bat powers some other way? Maybe Bruce had had bat powers for a while and hadn't told Selina. The first option seemed much more likely, but It was Gotham City. What wasn't possible? **(This is the DC universe. She has no idea!)**

Apparently Bruce used to be afraid of bats though. She hadn't known that before today. Maybe that was the cause of the bat theme for some reason, or maybe it was just a coincidence?

Jim also thought he heard CrystalQueen tell Bruce that he was Batman, but he wasn't entirely sure. It didn't make a whole lot of sense. How could that bat-guy going around threatening to throw people off buildings be Bruce?

 _There's no way innocent, good believing, pure hearted, Bruce could be that Batman guy_ thought Jim. Although if Bruce was supposed to be the main character of the movie, who kept his identity a secret and used a nickname, well...the introduction kinda made a little too much sense.

"Ed!" whispered Penguin.

"What?" asked the Riddler.

"Did CrystalQueen just say Bruce Wayne was Batman?"

"I think. It's hard to believe, but he was fighting muggers like the ones who killed his parents"

"But he's supposed to be our enemy!"

"So?"

"So? I don't want to fight that guy!"

CrystalQueen paid more attention to the audience than she did to the movie. She was glad Batman was having the effect on Gotham's criminals that he was intended to.

"Yeah I think it's Bruce" whispered Selina. "That's what I heard"

"That's what I heard but..." Jim stopped himself. This was going to sound stupid. Here was confirmation from three other people of what CrystalQueen said, but he still couldn't really see how Bruce Wayne could become Batman. He decided to rephrase. "You don't really think the Batman is Bruce Wayne do you?" Jim whispered. "Come on, it's Bruce!"

"Everyone whispering in the front left corner please shut up!" yelled Barbara from much further back as everyone around her thanked her.

"Sorry" said Jim quietly as he went back to watching the screen.

* * *

 **One of the men was dragged away in an ambulance groaning.**

"I thought Batman didn't seriously harm them" said Selina.

"He overdosed on drugs...I think" said CrystalQueen. "Or something like that. I'm pretty sure Batman didn't directly cause whatever that is"

 **"Let me guess. Giant, flying, supernatural thing, kinda like a bat?" asked a detective smoking a pipe. The two police officers talked insisting that there was no bat when a certain reporter came over.**

"Honestly If I wasn't from Gotham City and we didn't just see the Batman I wouldn't believe the thing about the giant bat either" said Harvey.

 **"Christ, Knocks!" said the detective.**

 **"Hello Lieutenant Egghart I hear we just had us another bat attack" said Knocks. "That's what, eight sightings now in under a month?" I hear the Commissioner has even opened a vile now, true?"**

Bruce fought a smirk.

 **"Sorry Knocks" said Egghart "These two slipped on a banana peel"**

"Banana peel?" huffed Alfred.

 **"I'm telling ya man, it was the bat!" yelled one of the criminals being dragged away.**

Bruce was glad he was scaring the he'll out of criminals without killing them.

Since the opening of the movie when he'd seen himself as Batman he'd been sitting in silence. As soon as CrystalQueen had told him he was Batman a spider web of ideas formed in his head as a chain reaction of realizations was kicked off. Sure he still mostly paid attention to the movie, but not really anything else. He only became aware of his surroundings again when one of CrystalQueen's servants offered him popcorn.


End file.
